Washington DB Waters Becomes Third Husky to Transfer to UNC

It didn't take long for Washington freshman safety transfer Peyton Waters to rejoin his previous defensive coordinator at the University of North Carolina. 

Less than one week after the 6-foot-1, 182-pound standout put his name in the portal for a second time in 13 months, the former four-star Birmingham High School product announced he will play for Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick and his son Steve Belichick after suiting up for the latter this past season in Seattle. 

Waters, one of six 2024 recruits to play all 13 games for the Huskies this past season under first-year coach Jedd Fisch, joins linebacker Khmori House and wide receiver Jason Robinson Jr. as the trio of UW football players now headed to Chapel Hill with the Belichick's. 

Although Waters only played in three games on defense — against Weber State, at Penn State and at Oregon — the Southern California native was in line to be a potential starter at safety going into the 2025 season. 

However, with the younger Belichick vacating the DC role for former Purdue coach Ryan Walters to fill and UW signing a pair of veteran safety transfer in their own right — Alex McLaughlin from Northern Arizona and CJ Christian from Florida International — it may have been a chance for Waters to follow his former coach and have a fresh start given he signed on originally to play for ex-Husky coaches Kalen DeBoer and Chuck Morrell in December 2023. 

In his lone season at UW, Waters registered five tackles which mostly came on kickoff coverage. He will have three seasons of eligibility remaining to use in Chapel Hill.